Bob flew over Mainframe and landed on the main business street. He
turned to see a diner in the process of being built. At least, it would
have been if several viral binomes weren't destroying everything. A
large red robot emerged from the rubble followed by a blue twin.
"Halt," called out the blue guy, "In the name of Megabyte."
"Yeah," called out the red guy, "And because we said so."
Bob tried not to laugh. "And you are?"
"I am Hack," said the red one.
"And I am Slash," the blue one replied.
"And he is Slash," Hack added.
"Didn't I just say that?" Slash questioned with annoyance.
At the almost same time they told Bob, "We're subservient."
"Do you think we're doing a good enough diversion while Megabyte is at
the Principal Office?" Slash asked his partner.
Hack smacked him and yelled, "You weren't supposed to tell him that!"
Slash slapped him back. "It was an accident. Hey, where did he
go?"
Bob had already jumped on a zipboard (Author's question: where do they
carry those things? It's the classic cartoon mysterious back pocket!)
and was flying towards the Principal Office. A crowd of binomes were
cornered outside by a small army of virals. Megabyte stood before them
holding Dot Matrix by the arm.

"You see, Ms. Matrix. All you have to do is give me the access code
and all these people can go free," the virus told her in a smooth tone.
"Let go of my sister, Megabreath!" Enzo shouted from the crowd. His
puppy, Frisket, hopped back and forth yipping at blue tin creature.
Bob came as near as he could without being seen by hiding behind a
stack of crates. "This is bad," he muttered taking another look only to
see Dot struggling in MB's grip. "Very bad," he added. The cadet
leaned against a box and almost lost his balance. Reading the label, a
wicked smile formed on his face.

"For the last time," Megabyte growled, "What is the access code to the
Mainframe achieves!" Suddenly, he noticed something soaring towards
them with a sword in his hand.

It was Bob, dashing overhead as he slapped each viral binome with the
baton and smiled as they froze in a block of energy.

He hovered for a moment with a large grin on his face. "Nobody told
me there'd be a street party today." Bob glanced at the huddled binomes
who remained motionless. With sigh, he added, "Enzo, get them out of
here."

"Sure thing, Bob," the little boy yelled and led the charge out of the
shadow of the Principal Office.

With a roar, Megabyte unsheathed his yellow claws and shouted, "I
suggest you stay where you are unless you want Ms. Matrix to meet an all
too soon deletion."

The binomes gasped as he held Dot out in front of him, her legs
kicking to show her stuggle. Just then, Bob shot by, grabbing Dot and
smacking the virus upside the head with the sword. The weapon snapped in
half. Bob frowned and released a whimper. He flew the zipboard out
of
harm's way before the row of claws swiped past him. The two passengers
rounded a corner and hid in a doorway underneath the Principal Office.
Dot checked herself over for bruises and dusted off her clothes as if
she felt dirty after being touched by Megabyte. "Are you okay, Ms.
Matrix?" Bob asked with concern.
"I'm fine," she replied offering him a smile, "And please, call me
Dot. That was a great plan, Bob. What's next?"
"Plan?" Bob inquired.
Her eyebrows rose. "You didn't plan that?"
"I'm not really the planning kind of sprite," he admitted arrogantly.

"Oh great," Dot muttered, shaking her head. She watched from their
hiding spot as Megabyte reached for Enzo. "I've got an idea," she said.
Bob let out a "whoa" as Dot dragged him over to another area of the
Principal Office. A square door with a lark lock coldly stared at them.
"The achieves?" he questioned.
"Yeah." She walked up and said in a clear voice, "Enter."
A vid window came up. "State name," a woman's voice requested.
Instead of her name, Dot said, "Defense Security Backup."
The window changed into a red button. Satisfied, Dot told the cadet,
"C'mon. Just follow my lead."

She ran in front of Megabyte who was chasing after each panicking
binome. He saw her and grabbed a screaming one, announcing, "Now, you have
two choices, Ms. Matri..."
"Alright Megabyte, I give up," she said with defeat, "I'll take you to
the achieves."
"Dot! What are you doing?!" Bob nearly snatched her arm to stop her
from leading the virus.
"We don't have a choice," she replied, "We can't fight him."
The virus smiled gleefully. "Smart girl."
The sprite took Megabyte to the achieves door and explained with
depression, "Press the red button. It'll ask for a password. Tell
it..."
"No Dot!" Bob tried to put a hand over her mouth, but MB pushed him
aside like an old toy.
Dot went on, the same sadness in her downcast eyes as in her tone.
"The password is I. E."

The virus's hands twitched with anticipation. "Very good." Dot
stepped back as the blue finger went to the red button. He pressed it and
waited. A clicking noise started from beneath the virus. He looked
down at his feet in confusion. A second later, a platform sprung up
underneath him and the beast was flung into the air. All of Mainframe
could
hear him yell out in surprise, "Eye-eeeeee!"

"Well, he got the password right," Bob pointed out, laughing as he
picked himself up, "Alright, nice job."
"Thanks," Dot replied with pride, "C'mon. We should check on the
others."

Bob glanced at his feet nervously. He knew that he should go back to
the Super Computer, only he didn't want to. In the end, he released a
sigh of defeat, "No, I...I should go home. The crisis is over and..."
"Okay, we'll call you next time you're needed," Dot told him casually.
"No!" Bob almost shouted, then regained his cool, "Uh...no, you better
not. I was just doing this as a favor for Zero. He needed the study
time."

"Oh." She tried not to reveal her disappointment at the thought of
Zero coming back. Then, Dot went back to her usual nonchalant attitude,
"Enzo will be sorry to hear that."

"I'll keep writing to him," Bob responded truthfully, "And...and you
could, I mean if you wanted, you and I could write too."
Before Dot could answer, Carden flew in as if out of nowhere on his
zipboard. "Bob, c'mon. What are you doing here? I can't
believe you
listened to Zero. We have to get back before Turbo knows you're gone."
"Turbo already knows," a deep Southern voice retorted. Turbo stood
over them with a scowl.
"Oh boy," Bob muttered under his breath.
"What's going on here?" Dot demanded to know.
Turbo addressed her. "Sorry for the inconvenience, miss. I
assure
you these cadets won't be bothering you again?"
She argued, "But they weren't...Cadets?"
Now Bob wasn't sure who would be worse to face, the strict Prime
Guardian or the fearless and stubborn Dot Matrix. He shook Dot's hand and
hurriedly told her, "Nice to see you again, Ms. Matrix. Tell your
brother bye for me." Then he threw down his zipboard and dashed away,
followed by Carden, who had a portal awaiting them.
Turbo also shook Dot's hand and added, "I'll make sure our normal
cadet will return. He should be earning his Guardian protocol soon and
we'll work on assigning him permanently, so problems like this will not
happen again."
"Wait, but we don't want..." Dot started to protest, however Turbo has
already stepped back through his own portal and dissapeared.